BIOGRAPHY
‘’For the early birds, there was a half hour chamber music performance by students of the Glenn Gould School. Jean-Luc Therrien, in his final year of the Artist Diploma program, performed seven of the nine movements from Robert Schumann’s Waldszenen (Forest Scenes) Op. 82. It was easy to find oneself in the haunted forest of Schumann’s imagination. His playing was absolutely exquisite.’’
TORONTO CONCERT REVIEWS
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Named one of CBC Music’s “30 Hot Canadian Classical Musicians Under 30” in 2020, pianist Jean-Luc Therrien maintains an active career as a soloist and chamber musician, performing throughout Canada and internationally. He has appeared alongside renowned artists and ensembles, including cellists Colin Carr and Zlatomir Fung, The Happenstancers, and the Claudel-Canimex Quartet. He has also collaborated with violinist Jean-Samuel Bez, the Festival d’opéra de Québec, Jeunesses Musicales Canada, and Debut Atlantic on multiple concert tours throughout Europe and Eastern Canada. As a soloist, he has performed with orchestras such as the Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra (Japan), the Royal Conservatory of Music Orchestra at Koerner Hall (Toronto), the Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières, and the Orchestre des Conservatoires de musique du Québec.
Jean-Luc serves on the faculty of the University of Toronto and the Phil and Eli Taylor Performance Academy for Young Artists. He is also an RCM Certified Teacher and regularly works at the Glenn Gould School as a class accompanist. An experienced adjudicator, he has served on juries for organizations across Ontario, Québec, and the Maritimes, including the Aegio International Piano competition, the Ontario Music Festivals Association (OMFA), the Montreal Classical Music Festival, the Toronto Kiwanis Music Festival, the ORMTA Greater Toronto Zone Competition, and Debut Atlantic. He is also a sought-after educator, having presented masterclasses at institutions across Canada and abroad, including Dalhousie University, the Conservatoire de musique de Québec, the Conservatoire de musique de Trois-Rivières, the Conservatoire de musique de Chicoutimi, and in Barcelona, Spain.
In addition to his work as a performer and educator, Jean-Luc has released two albums. His debut solo recording, Piano Preludes, was selected by CBC Music as one of the 21 best Canadian classical albums of 2021. His duo album with French violinist Jean-Samuel Bez, released on the Klarthe label, received critical acclaim in Europe. His recordings are available on major streaming platforms and through his YouTube channel, Jean-Luc Therrien, pianist.
A graduate of the Conservatoire de musique de Trois-Rivières (Québec), the Mozarteum University Salzburg (Austria), and the Glenn Gould School (Toronto), Jean-Luc has earned top prizes and been named a finalist at numerous international competitions, including the NTD International Piano Competition (New York), the the Premio Mauro Paolo Monopoli International Piano Competition (Italy), the Luigi Zanuccoli International Competition (Italy), the Sendai International Music Competition (Japan), and the Stepping Stone of the Canadian Music Competition.